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Author's Chapter Notes:
Make sure you read the previous chapter first! I updated it yesterday. :)
Chapter 27

Spike and Dawn sat in the waiting room of Dr. Bennett’s office. Because Hank had a late meeting, Buffy and Spike were in charge of the little girl. Right now, Buffy was being examined, and Spike was just waiting for the nurse to come and get him so he could see the ultrasound.

Because of scheduling conflicts, Buffy’s ultrasound had been postponed until the beginning of March. She was already about eighteen weeks pregnant, almost halfway through the pregnancy. Dawn was fully aware that her sister was having a baby, though she was still a little uncertain about how the baby got in there in the first place.

“So they’re gonna show Buffy’s baby on a TV?” Dawn asked with wide eyes.

“Well, sort of, yeah,” Spike nodded.

“And the baby’s my brother or sister?”

“No, no,” Spike chuckled. “Buffy’s your sister, so that’ll make the baby your niece or nephew.”

“Oh, right. I knew that,” Dawn said quickly. “Are you gonna find out if it’s a boy or a girl?”

“I dunno, Little Bit. That’s up to your big sis, yeah?” Dawn nodded again.

“Mr. Pratt?” Spike looked up to see the nurse standing there with a smile on her face. “We’re ready for you and Dawn.”

“Thanks,” Spike said with a nod. “C’mon, Nibblett.” He took Dawn’s hand and led her back to Buffy’s exam room, where she was lying on the table with her belly exposed. The doctor was already moving the little wand over Buffy’s stomach.

Spike picked Dawn up so she could get a better look at the screen.

“Ok,” Dr. Bennett began, “here’s the baby’s head.” She took a few measurements. “Everything looks good here.” Buffy smiled up at Spike and then turned back to the monitor. “There’s your baby’s heart.”

“See the heart beating, Dawnie?” Buffy asked, pointing to the screen. Dawn’s eyes widened.

“Yeah,” she said, amazed, watching as the doctor pressed a few buttons. A swishswishswish sound filled the room, and Buffy’s eyes lit up.

“Heartbeat,” she murmured aloud. After the doctor took several more measurements and still images of the baby’s development, she began to move the wand around to look for the gender.

“Are you interested in knowing the sex?” she asked. Buffy and Spike looked at one another.

“It’s up to you, luv,” he offered.

“Ok,” Buffy said with a nod. “Yeah, we wanna know.”

“Yay!” Dawn exclaimed. “Be a girl. Be a girl!” The doctor laughed a little, and she started to move the wand around again.

“Hmm…”

“Hmm?” Buffy wondered.

“Well, somebody’s being stubborn,” the doctor chuckled. She pressed on Buffy’s belly a little, and she furrowed her brows. “Nope. Somebody’s shy.”

“You mean, you can’t tell?”

“The baby’s legs are crossed,” the doctor chuckled.

“Oh,” Buffy frowned. “Well, that’s ok. Maybe we’ll find out next time.” She smiled a little and looked up at Spike. “Right?”

“Right, pet.”

“Aw, I wanna know,” Dawn whined.

“You’ll find out soon enough, Dawnie,” Buffy smiled. “Whatever it is, we’ll know in a little over four months.”

“That’s forever away, though.” Dawn sighed, and Spike put her down.

“Everything looks great,” Dr. Bennett assured the soon-to-be-parents. “If you’d like, we can attempt to find out the sex of the baby at the next ultrasound.”

“Ok,” Buffy said with a nod. “Thanks, Dr. Bennett. “

***

“I still think it’s a boy. I don’t know why,” Buffy shrugged as she and Spike sat on the bench at the park watching Dawn play. It wasn’t a particularly warm day, but it was warmer than usual, so in order to keep Dawn happy, they’d promised her a trip to the park.

“I say it’s a girl.”

“Yeah, well, we’ll see who’s right. Only one of us can be.”

“Unless it’s twins.”

“Shut up,” Buffy laughed. “It’s not.”

“Yeah, I know, but you should’ve seen your face, luv.” He reached over and placed his hand on her stomach, caressing it softly. Just as he was leaning in to kiss Buffy, his cell phone rang. With a groan, he reached into his pocket, retrieved the cell and answered. “‘Lo?”

Buffy watched as his face changed expressions every few moments.

“Yeah. Ok. Really? When? Alright. Um, did you call…right. Ok. Thank you. Yeah. Goodbye.” Spike shut his phone and slowly placed it back in his pocket.

“Who was that?”

“Uh…that was Mr. Giles. I guess someone wants to sign us.” Buffy’s eyes widened.

“Oh my God!”

“They wanna sign all of us, Buffy.”

“Oh my God. Oh my God! Spike! That’s amazing!” she exclaimed. She quickly pulled her arms around him and squeezed him tight. “I knew something good was gonna happen. I just knew it.” Spike was stunned as the girl he loved held onto him so tightly. The thought that he was being given a chance to do something with his life…something that would provide for his family…it was an indescribable feeling.

All he knew was that he had the chance to make a name for himself and to make sure Buffy and their baby had a bright future, and there was no way in Hell he was going to pass that up.

***

Buffy yawned and opened her eyes when she heard footsteps creeping across her bedroom floor. She sat up to see Spike moving toward the bed. The window was open, and she realized he’d just gotten there. When she glanced at the clock, she realized it was three in the morning.

“Spike?”

“Sorry, luv. Had to re-record a song about fifteen times until Ethan was happy.” Ethan Rayne was the producer of the record The Dingoes were working on.

“It’s three in the morning,” she whispered.

“I know, I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok,” she said softly, frowning.

“I’ll make it up to you,” he offered, sitting down next to her on the bed and reaching for her. She pulled away.

“I’ve got a test at eight o’clock, Spike. I really need to sleep.” She lay back down on the bed and sighed heavily. “I wish you’d have gotten here earlier.”

“I know, luv. It’s gonna be a little rough until the tracks are finished, but after that…”

“I know. I’m sorry,” she groaned into her pillow. “Let’s just go to sleep, ok?” Spike frowned but he crawled under the covers with her, pulling his arms around her and hoping she wouldn’t pull away. He sighed with relief when she turned to face him and smiled a little, kissing his forehead. “I love you. I know you’re doing your best, Spike. I’m just…I miss you when you’re not here.”

“I miss you too, luv,” he breathed, holding her close enough to feel her breath against his cheek. “No matter how long I’m gone, I’ll always come back, alright?”

“Let’s not talk about that, ok?” she asked, tears threatening to sting her eyes. She knew that once the band had a CD, they’d have a lot of promotional stuff to do, and it was going to take him away from her. Luckily, Ethan and Giles, who was acting as manager to the band, had come to an agreement to wait until after the guys graduated high school. So the summer would be a big promo tour, and the thing that scared Buffy was that Spike might not be there when the baby came in July.

“You know I’ll be here, Buffy. I’ll quit the band if I have to.”

“No you won’t,” Buffy argued. “This is huge, Spike. This is everything right now. It’s our future. Unless you don’t want it.” Spike looked away. He hadn’t thought he wanted it, but the thought of doing something right for his family? That was definitely something he wanted. Making money? Providing a solid foundation for their future? Yeah, that was all well and good, but the nagging thought in the back of his mind was that it might not last. And what if he became the kind of man he swore he’d never be? The kind of man who was never there for his family. No. He refused to become that man.

“I want this,” he assured her. “And I want you. And this baby. We’ll make it work, luv. You’ll see. It’ll all work out just fine.”

***

“Ugh, look at them,” Buffy grumbled, sitting at the lunch table with her hands folded over her belly. “Ever since people found out the guys are making an album, the girls have been all over…”

“Ixnay on the ankskay alktay,” Cordelia said quickly. Buffy made a face but quickly translated the pig latin in her head when Spike came over to sit down.

“Aren’t you Mr. Popular?” Buffy wondered.

“What?”

“Oh please! That one girl practically dry humped you against the wall over there. I saw, you know.”

“I didn’t bloody touch her!” Spike defended.

“No, but if looks could perform physical acts, she’d have had you bending her over the water fountain and…”

“Whoa!” Willow exclaimed, raising her hands.

“Sorry,” Buffy pouted.

“No need to be jealous, pet. Only have eyes for you, and you know it.” He grinned at her. “ You’re the only one I look at in the crowd when I’m on stage, and you know it.”

“Yeah. Real sexy that your biggest groupie is a pregnant cow with porn star boobs.” Willow, Cordelia, Oz, and Xander all exchanged glances. Spike, however, shook his head.

“You’re not a cow, luv. You’re a goddess.”

“Yeah. Right.”

“Isn’t my girl gorgeous?” Spike asked everyone at the table.

“You are beautiful, Buffy,” Willow agreed. “You look adorable pregnant.”

“Yeah. And those clothes I helped you pick out? Definitely helping.”

“And well, you know, the porn star boobs aren’t doing anything bad for you,” Xander offered, which landed him with an elbow in the gut courtesy of Cordelia. “Hey! I was helping.”

“No, you were ogling our friend’s boobs.”

“Ugh,” Buffy murmured. “I have to go to the bathroom. I swear to God if I hear one more girl whisper, ‘what the Hell is he doing with her’ I’m going to…” And her voice trailed off as she walked away from the table.

“So, those mood swings are kicking in, huh?” Xander asked. Spike just scratched the back of his head, deciding to keep mum on the topic at hand.

***

In the bathroom, Buffy walked out of the stall and washed her hands. As she was straightening her hair, Drusilla Lewis walked in. She’d been out of school for about a week, and now she was back, looking just as skinny as ever. Buffy couldn’t help but feel her hormones bubbling up again, but she forced herself to remain quiet as Drusilla stepped up beside her in front of the mirror.

“Heard the news about Spike and his band.”

“Yeah,” Buffy mumbled. “It’s great. He’s gonna be great.”

“Always knew he’d do something with his life. Didn’t think you’d be a part of it.”

“Well, obviously you didn’t think you would be either, since you were cheating on him and everything.” Dru flinched at that. “What’s the matter, Dru? It’s not like nobody knows. You cheated on him, and then you stayed with a guy who…who treated you like dirt, and…”

“And I got pregnant,” Drusilla pointed out. “I was very unlucky. As were you. Having to be stuck with the fruit of mindless affairs.”

“Great. Here comes the psychobabble,” Buffy murmured.

“The thing is, I grew to love my baby,” Dru murmured, stroking her flat stomach as she gazed into the mirror, unblinking. “But he’s gone now. All gone.” Buffy’s eyes widened, and she turned to Dru.

“You…oh…I’m…I didn’t know,” Buffy said quietly. “I’m…I’m sorry, Dru.” She didn’t know what else to say. What else could she say? Standing there with her very obvious pregnant belly was obviously not going to do much in the way of comfort the other young woman, who looked as if she were moments away from completely breaking away from reality.

So, Buffy simply turned around and left, feeling a nagging sympathy in her chest for Dru, though she couldn’t help but guiltily feel that maybe it was the best thing that could have happened out of the entire mess of a situation.


Chapter End Notes:
Please let me know what you thought of the chapter. I'm beginning to wonder if it's worth continuing, honestly.



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